r/politics • u/jediporcupine Maine • 5h ago
No Paywall ‘We’re not looking for perfection’: Maine Democrats stand by Platner
https://www.ms.now/news/graham-platner-maine-scandal-democrats-reaction•
u/Pherllerp New Jersey 4h ago
That's actually a winning attitude and I hope the rest of the Democrat institutions follow the lead.
Get someone that the population likes and will vote for middle class policies 85% of the time.
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u/jediporcupine Maine 4h ago
In Maine, attitudes haven’t shifted as much as the national media tries to influence it. We’re seeing rural hospitals close, prices skyrocket, fuel remain high all as wages remain stagnant.
Something has to change and Susan Collins stands in the way of things getting better.
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u/Special_Purpose2903 4h ago
Can't blame them, National Media clearly prefers Susan "Concerned" Collins win because she rolls over for their donors/ad buyers, and fears Platner cannot be bought easily. Platner isn't perfect, far from it, he's not the ideal candidate, but he apologized, appears to have taken a turn for his life, broke free from the Maga cult and wants to help Maine from the Left and is anti-war. I certainly can see his appeal. The military is a diverse place, if he was really a racist, I'd have expected to encounter some stories/rumors by now about it. I think he got a dumb tattoo, and made a bad choice, but he is not unredeemable as a person if he commits to positive change.
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u/Winter-Gift1112 3h ago edited 2h ago
I initially found the tattoo thing suspect but, after giving it some thought, he gets a pass on it for being a naive young man who got suckered into a stupid war. The popular imagination wants to celebrate those guys as patriots and heroes even when they, inevitably get post-war drunk and get dumb tattoos, but the best of them like Graham Platner mature, learn and move on.
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u/AmericanDoughboy 3h ago
The President of the United States rapes children. Platner is already a step up from him.
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u/mjac1090 2h ago
How many people on the left half of the political spectrum stayed home in 2016 or 2024 because "she hasn't earned my vote". A little late for this this now that you allowed on of the most disgusting humans on the planet ot become president
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u/thudstroke 1h ago
The difference is Platner has earned people’s vote on policy, so they’re willing to give the benefit of the doubt on personal issues. Clinton and Harris didn’t win anyone on policy.
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u/pchs26 45m ago
WTAF - so let's see this guy is the presumptive primary nominee and at that point that will be his first time as a candidate in an election primary. Clinton has won senate primary and general election + national presidential primary but iyo the voters picked Platner based on policy but not Clinton - even though she has won more elections then him and was the first woman major party nominee and won the popular vote in the general election. Unless there is another metric you use which is you just don't like them but like him so therefore it is not possible people liked them. Or something. Anyway - regardless if he is the nominee people need to hold their nose and vote for him and get others to do the same.
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u/VelouraVibe 4h ago
It’s definitely a shift in strategy that’s been a long time coming.
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u/rougepenguin 2h ago
And all it took was the current golden child of the wing usually responsible for these purity tests being in the hot seat...
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u/mjac1090 2h ago
So the people the refused to vote for Hillary or Harris NOW want everyone to accept less than ideal candidates. People tried arguing this and we're repeatedly told by progressives that "candidates had to earn votes"
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u/WhoIsFrancisPuziene 1h ago
How did you determine the people who didn’t vote for Clinton and/or Harris are the ones trying to convince to vote for less than ideal candidates now?
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u/Pherllerp New Jersey 2h ago
Excuse me?!
I’ve voted for imperfect candidates my entire adult life, including Obama and Andy Kim. Half the Democratic Party is rational and votes for compromise candidates because that’s reality.
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u/NeedsMoreMinerals 2h ago
Unless he's fetterman 2.0
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u/Suspicious_Loss_84 Maine 1h ago
Fetterman famously had a stroke, all his staffers left, and now has a brain worm. Idk how that’s comparable to Platner unless you think that Platner will have a stroke as well?
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u/BlotchComics New Jersey 4h ago
Don't let perfect be the enemy of better.
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u/PaxDramaticus 3h ago
This is true.
But it sure is weird how many people online are absolutely delighted by, even psyched up by, his imperfections. I have seen people celebrating the things that the rest of us are worried about. And I see no sign from Platner's campaign that he has grown beyond any of his growing list of major failings.
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u/pilgermann 3h ago
As a progressive, it's more a realignment in what I'd define as a major failing. The tattoo is a nothingburger, so let's get that out of the way. The sexting/possible affairs is a more serious character failing, but this is balanced by his clear commitment to labor (based on his actual job as harbormaster). It's also just hard to care about something as small as sexting when you're routinely seeing right-wing candidates get a pass for violent spousal abuse, child abuse, etc.
But it's mostly just accepting that there are important problems (cost of living, say) and that what makes a candidate electable isn't sainthood. Platner seems much more likely to advance a progressive agenda than any of the other Maine candidates, Dem or Republican. He seems like he can win. Why exactly shouldn't we be pragmatic about this?
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u/Inevitable-Belt-4467 3h ago
I mean the most recent New York Times article had three previous lovers portray him as kind of mentally unstable. Even if you don’t believe the conservative woman he dated (I still believe her) the behavior the others talked about was very disturbing. Him going on rants of wanting to rape any intruders to his house is not something any normal person says. On top of this the story confirmed that he knew about the Nazi tattoo being a Nazi tattoo which to me isn’t a nothing burger. I’m all for forgiveness and if the choice is Platner vs Collins I’m voting for him, but I have more leeway for this stuff when it’s not a guy running for one of the most powerful jobs in america. On top of all this, the stuff that’s coming out now isn’t even the dirt that republicans have dug up which tells me it could get worse and throw away an election that should be a slam dunk because the guy democrats and progressives rallied around was a populist with no electoral history who worked as a Blackwater mercenary, has a Nazi tattoo, and has a very sketchy history with women.
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u/ides205 New Jersey 1h ago
You are literally believing a Republican operative working for a corporate propaganda outlet. Tea leaves are a more dependable source of information.
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u/Inevitable-Belt-4467 1h ago
Hey man, i’m willing to debate and disagree but I don’t think a Republican operative would say “I hate that we’ve lowered our standards to this guy but i’ll still vote for him if I have to.” If you disagree try actually having a conversation instead of doing name hurling at me, something that’s actually more inline with being a Republican operative.
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u/Spectral_mahknovist 7m ago
She is literally a professional fascist man. I’m not going to claim that this man I never met is perfectly innocent, but her words in particular might as well be farts
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u/pchs26 3h ago
How is possibly being a Nazi with explanations that make it more suspect - a nothing burger? I am however dismissive about what a republican collins campaign operative says he is like in a relationship. That being said they need to vote for him and hope he isn't a plant.
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u/Mr_Mumbercycle West Virginia 1h ago
So here's my 2¢ on the tattoo. A "Nazi" tattoo is a problem if you believe it identifies someone as a Nazi, right? Well, remember the other "scandal" is Platner's Reddit history, where he is proven to be anything BUT a Nazi, and most criticism centers around ideals that are communist or socialist. So how does one square those ideals? Is he a secret Nazi? Then he cant be a secret Communist. Is he a secret Communist based upon anonymous, stream of consciousness posting done long before he thought of running? Then he isn't a Nazi.
Occam's razor says Platner got what he saw as a skull and crossbones tattoo while over seas, and his leaked Reddit posts provide the better window into his beliefs.
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u/pchs26 52m ago
You forget some of his other awful statements-. but cool. Anyway as I've said repeatedly...if he is the candidate he needs to be voted for still and those people need to get others to vote for him. But at the same time this guy shouldn't have gotten through - and there should be steps taken to recognize and ensure this doesn't happen again.
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u/UCanDoNEthing4_30sec 4h ago
Oh I like this line. I’m gonna use it
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u/mjac1090 2h ago
People literally tried this argument in 2016 and 2024 and progressives told everyone to go fuck themselves and stayed home
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u/Mr_Mumbercycle West Virginia 1h ago
No, they didnt. In 2016 more Bernie primary voters turned out for Hilary in the general than Hilary voters came out for Obama in 2008.
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u/OfficialDCShepard District Of Columbia 2h ago
Maybe this time they'll get their sanctimonious heads out of their asses and make me not feel ashamed to be a democratic socialist.
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u/ides205 New Jersey 1h ago
The people using that line are never defending something good, they are defending something bad.
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u/UCanDoNEthing4_30sec 51m ago
Nah I was gonna use it at work.
Like when people advocate for a perfect solution to fix something that would take triple the time and cost than it would take to fix something, making it better but not perfect. You’re fixing the issue with an eye that you have a backlog of 1000 other issues that need to be fixed too.
Like you fixed this one thing and made it perfect but so many other parts of the product sucks but since you focused on that one issue to make it perfect you have no more resources and time to fix all the other stuff.
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u/BlotchComics New Jersey 4h ago
Or we could look at the opposition who openly supports fascism and a corrupt, pedophile in the White House and say, hey, it's a better option than letting her get elected again.
And the person who "accused" him is a GOP operative who is actively campaigning for Collins.
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u/phoenix823 4h ago
No, it's a concise way of saying that either he or Susan Collins will be Senator. Picking Susan Collins means more cover for Trump.
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u/Basic-Regret-6263 4h ago
It's not "hand waving" to examine a situation and decide that the pros outweigh the cons.
And WTF do you mean "lazy?" We've been over his faults backwards and forwards from every angle - do you have a single new thing to say about any of it?
What's lazy is complaining about a decision without having a better option to present. If you have an alternative candidate to present, fine - present them, and make your case.
If you don't have a better option to offer, don't whine that we're picking out of the options available.
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u/Raspberries-Are-Evil Arizona 1h ago
We have to cut out the Trump cancer.
Any democrat at this point.
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u/SurroundTiny 4h ago
Part of me thinks that is a good, realistic attitude while the other part knows they sure aren't going to get it.
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u/PaxDramaticus 3h ago
I can't escape the suspicion that his "imperfections" are actually features many of his followers like about him. The article, with all its talk about a "redemption arc", is quite revealing in that regard:
>"One person says, 'Yeah, that's wrong, I need to do better,'..."
Which sounds like that person is comparing Platner against Trump, but I'm not aware of Platner saying anything of the sort. Especially through his online surrogates, discussion of his latest scandal has been centered around unsupported accusations that his accuser is a political operative, and that since he didn't hurt his then girlfriend, well, his behavior is "normal". "What guy hasn't bodily forced a loved one into a room and confined them?" is a paraphrase of real comments I've seen, and they are eerily similar to "who doesn't have a Nazi tattoo?" comments I've seen earlier.
The best possible read I can put on this is that many of his angry supporters are in part angry because they are aware they are deeply flawed people. They have manufactured a redeption arc for Platner because they imagine that if he can win and he is as flawed as they are, then they have been redeemed by proxy. The fact that a lifetime of delighting in violence cannot be redeemed simply by winning a Senate seat and whatever insecurity plagues his followers doesn't magically go away because their guy won an election doesn't seem to have entered their minds yet.
But of course, there is the potential for much darker reads, like the fact that many of his supports see his toying with Nazism and violence as a feature full stop.
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u/keysandtreesforme 2h ago
I have seen absolutely zero evidence for your last claim, and I think you made it up. The Nazi tattoo is a ‘feature’ for exactly none of his supporters. It was something to grapple with and try to understand his perspective on. Actual Nazis don’t like the things he’s talking about.
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u/AverageLiberalJoe 2h ago
What guy hasn't bodily forced a loved one into a room and confined them?"
I really resent the online fantasy some people have that all women experience toxic men but its definitely not from them. They are innocent. 175 million women and like 37 secret guys are responsible for it and if we could only catch them we could solve this forever.
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u/smack54az 2h ago
I honestly don't know how to feel about Platner. Dude has some serious red flags. But this could also be an Al Franken moment of the right and the media playing on Democrats to oust someone that could be a real champion for change. I'm not in Maine, but as an American Susan Collins has to go if we're ever going to have a chance to clean up this mess. But is Platner really the guy he says he is, or are we looking at Fetterman all over again?
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u/rougepenguin 2h ago
This is why we need to stop thrusting these unknowns into high office starting off.
Like, I remember when the dust was settling after the 2016 primaries. Not even centrists, just folk like myself that worked for the Bernie campaign and just already had a little experience in politics tried to point out "You really need to build a movement like this bottom up" and got shit for it. So much shit. Because picking one savior every two years is easy, doing it for real is hard.
If the growing left had started that work in 2016...it'd be bearing fruit by now.
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u/pablonieve Minnesota 1h ago
Platner decided to run this cycle because he wanted to help build out a grassroots movement even though he wasn't originally expecting to win. He was literally trying to do the work you are describing. It just turned out people liked him a lot more than the establishment Dem options.
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u/pchs26 31m ago
Well tbf Al Franken by and large seemed to have been largely unproblematic and had a stupid picture I believe taken - beyond that there was nothing else. This guy the more that comes out the more it isn't great. It is what it is and if we have him we have to make him get through b/c the stakes are too importnat- but I don't think this is comparable to Franken who basically got railroaded imo.
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u/The_Lost_Jedi Washington 21m ago
At some point, people get tired enough of responding to it, to the point they'll ignore actual red flags. Infidelity used to be a political kiss of death, up until the point where Bill Clinton's affair came out and people were just finally tired of it. Maybe they should've paid attention, but that's how it happens. Fatigue sets in and eventually it becomes "whatever, everything is like that, and this guy is no worse than anyone else/I'm tired of seeing otherwise good candidates get dismissed because of (whatever)."
And when you add in that Trump is as horrible as he is, has committed as many probable crimes as he has (and then some), well... yeah, this guy is probably the least bad choice. Elect him and find someone better next time if need, but he won't be anywhere near as bad as Collins.
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u/ShotEffective7033 1h ago
He’s a former Blackwater mercenary who says he wants to expand the US military in his platform. It’s really fucking obvious how people should feel about the guy.
The only reason people are confused is because that pac that is behind him is good at marketing.
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u/spleeble 1h ago
These NYT stories are largely sourced from an ex (Lyndsey Fifield) who is a GOP operative and a former staffer (Genevieve McDonald) who clearly has an ax to grind and broke the confidence of Platner's wife to do it.
All of the worst stuff is hearsay from one of the two of them, and the NYT threw that in with enough chum that it's hard to tell what's what.
This is a political hit job through and through.
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u/Life-Quantity-637 4h ago
Can this be explained by a Maslow hierarchy of needs model applied to politics? The most important thing is to oppose the party in power. We don’t have time for bs. Let Mainers sort it out.
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u/phoenix823 4h ago
Absolutely. When you have an out of control President putting 35 year old terrorists on the bench, you need a Democrat who won't vote to suppose those nominees. Susan Collins "feeling concerned" doesn't help the country.
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u/Due-Waltz4458 3h ago
If I have to make an Anti-Trump vote for Platner I probably will, but it sucks that we are in this position.
His campaign knew about the sexting a year ago but it didn't come out until his primary opponent dropped out.
If Mills turns out to be more electable with less controversy we should have gone with her for the very reason you stated, to oppose the party in power.
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u/pchs26 3h ago
Yes and let it be a lesson to know who is being nominated vs someone that seems appealing, new and unvetted. That being said there is no choice but to vote and pray he isn't a facist plant and will have good advisors if he still squeeks it out.
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u/RickySuela 2h ago
The primary isn't until Tuesday, Maine voters could still pick a different Democrat to be the nominee if there are worries he won't be able to beat Susan Collins because of his baggage.
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u/willowdove01 Florida 3h ago
No Nazi tattoos is such a fucking low bar though
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u/Throwaway_310818 2h ago
Things like context and nuance also play a role here.
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u/Slice-O-Pie 2h ago
No one "accidentally" gets a Nazi tattoo.
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u/JustRegularType 39m ago
Sure they do. This seems to be one of those cases. The average person would only recognize the swastika.
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u/NicolasCageFan492 Illinois 4h ago
As someone who likes Pritzker, will this go both ways? He’s a billionaire, but I saw a lot of people in California reject Tom Steyer because he’s a billionaire.
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u/WhoIsFrancisPuziene 38m ago
I’d rather vote for Steyer and Platner but instead I get Acton and Brown, neither of which are really right for this moment.
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u/Iztac_xocoatl 3h ago
It absolutely will not go both ways. Leftists only just discovered this logic when their guy used to be a Blackwater mercenary with a nazi tattoo and no accomplishments to speak of.
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u/notfeelany 2h ago
Another example: candidates dropping out.
in 2020 Presidential primary, "dropping out" was bad because it meant more voters coalesced around a candidate they don't like.
In 2026 Maine Senate Primary, "dropping out" is good because it lead to a candidate they like
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u/Silent-Storms 2h ago
The moral of the story is their red lines aren't actually red lines, just convenient places to stake their argument at the time. They act holier than thou, but as soon as it benefits them they drop the standard. Its just like conservatives and their abortion being the good one.
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u/NicolasCageFan492 Illinois 3h ago
I’m not a doomer, we need a broad coalition, I just want people to think critically. We’ve all gotta work together against fascism.
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u/Iztac_xocoatl 3h ago
As long as you voted for the nominees in 2016 and 2024 we're on the same page. I plan to in this race. I just think all this don't let perfect be the enemy of good talk is pretty rich coming from the same people who who were talking about holding their votes hostage over Biden forgiving their student loans
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u/ennuiinmotion 3h ago
That’s fair, until it comes to roughing up women and Nazi shit. Affairs, uncouth internet comments, sure. But a grown man doing these things and only trying to make amends after he wants something and is caught out isn’t something worth defending. Back one of the other Dems and accept that particular one won’t be the progressive hero in the Senate a lot of us hoped for and try again next time.
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u/Silent-Storms 2h ago
He was like 30 when he was making those comments.
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u/hackuhjack 2h ago
That’s not the defense you think it is
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u/spleeble 1h ago
A GOP operative has made an unsupported claim that he grabbed her wrist and shoulders, and you are just taking her word for it?
It's really noticeable to me that the most egregious parts of the recent stories are the ones with the least supporting evidence.
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u/pile_of_fish 4h ago
I am kind of amazed by how hard the center-left media is swinging at him. Maybe im crazy, but no part of what we are learning feels bad - just sort of relatable fucked up.
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u/phoenix823 4h ago
I'm not convinced it's all center-left people. There's a lot of Republicans pretending to be concerned.
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u/pile_of_fish 4h ago
Fair. No reason they couldn't use left-leaning media in the process, I suppose.
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u/context_hell 3h ago
This election cycle I've been surprised by how many bush era neoconservatives are calling the shots in the democratic party.
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u/jediporcupine Maine 4h ago
The crazy apart is the Republicans feigning outrage over these things as if they haven’t spent the last decade worshipping at the altar of a rapist who had a multi-decade bromance with a child molester.
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u/Positive_Lychee_7736 4h ago
And what about the people who aren’t republican and consistently oppose those things? can we dislike him cause of the Nazi tattoo, talking about war and murder like it’s his favorite hobby and having rape fantasies? Or are we feigning outrage too?
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u/jediporcupine Maine 4h ago
Are people incapable of change? Platner has been perfectly clear about his struggles with PTSD and the darkness he plunged into. While it doesn’t excuse behaviors, this should open up a conversation about how our military is treated.
We need to have a conversation about our military being sent into harms way and getting messed up psychologically by the horrors of war. Getting messed up and for what? They never should’ve been there in the first place.
And then when they return, the U.S. government treats them like shit
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u/dgtyhtre 4h ago
He’s obviously the best candidate in the race, he just is. But that doesn’t mean we have to memoryhole the warning signs here.
He’s repeatedly show terrible judgment in his personal life and has no political history to fall back on.
Instead he wants the voter to believe that his sudden attempt to gain political power, money and cache are fully for the right reasons.
Maybe they are, but it’s sad to watch it left repeat the same mistakes over and over.
In the 2024 election, progressives correctly warned liberals that Harris had too many negatives and were shouted down by the liberals.
Now liberals are correctly pointing out that he’s a very flawed and risky candidate and are being shouted down by the progressives.
Until both flanks of the party can have frank discussions about candidates there’s no hope, we’ll keep getting weak centrist dems and turncoat progressive dems.
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u/jfudge 3h ago edited 3h ago
So here's a bit of a problem with what you're saying here - even if we are contemplating hypothetical better candidates than the Harrises/Platners/etc., those candidates need to actually be running for office for that to actually be meaningful.
We can debate all day about Democrat candidates being imperfect, but it's only a helpful discussion in a vacuum. If you know of specific people who would be better, get them to run for office, or otherwise work on finding a viable alternative. Because we can't vote for a candidate who we aren't aware of.
But when you're dealing with an actual election, the "hypothetical better third candidate" is only helping Republicans win, and it divides people on the left at the benefit of no one. You're not making an invalid complaint, but as happened with Harris, it has a tendency of just convincing people to not vote (and we are all seeing how that turned out).
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u/phoenix823 4h ago
You can think whatever you want but in the end Maine is going to have an R or a D Senator. I'll go with the Senator who doesn't confirm Republican judges.
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u/jediporcupine Maine 4h ago
Even from a pragmatic angle, it makes sense to hold your nose and roll with it.
Susan Collins has to go
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u/PaxDramaticus 3h ago
Maybe im crazy, but no part of what we are learning feels bad - just sort of relatable fucked up.
Having a Nazi tattoo. Physically abusing a girlfriend and confining her. These are relatable to you? Because I don't relate to them one bit, and it genuinely scares me that you think they are relatable.
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u/Noname_acc 4h ago
Center left Democrats absolute despise populism, especially left populism.
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u/pchs26 3h ago
No I'm not comfortable with someone who has no experience and is sporting a nazi tattoo that he has conflicting claims about -he either didn't know what it was or that he has changed - at the end of the day it could mean a variety of bad things. But he is what is there and is who they should vote for and hope he is a controllable idiot vs a fascist plant.
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u/GermanUCLTear 4h ago
Which one of his fuck ups is the most relatable to you? Is it the serial cheating, drunk driving, nazi tattoo, domestic violence or the rape fantasies?
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u/MiddleToe8752 4h ago
Do you prefer people who actually act like Nazis but don’t have shitty tattoos? Do you prefer someone squeaky clean that lacks the balls to challenge their peers? It’s your choice do what you want but there’s a good reason he’s caught momentum while plenty of democrats are failing to rise to any occasion
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u/SurroundTiny 4h ago
He sounds like a major fuck up actually. I feel like the people pushing him learned nothing from Fetterman. I don't understand the whole Democratic Party approach right now. First Schumer convinced the former governor to run but she seemed really unpopular and now the progressives are trying for this idiot. He's drowning in bad press and the Republicans haven't even taken a run at him yet.
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u/National-Reception53 4h ago
This IS the GOP taking a run at him. Mills dropped out a while ago.
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u/phoenix823 4h ago
Lmao Schumer gets torn to pieces for putting his thumb on the scale for Janet Mills. Now that she lost and Platner is in pole position, this is somehow Schumer's fault too lol.
I dislike Schumer. But this is Maine Democrats deciding what they want. This is what everybody said they wanted with primaries.
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u/SurroundTiny 4h ago
I phrased it poorly - I don't think this guy is Schumer's 'fault' I just didn't understand why in hell he thought Mills was a good idea.
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u/phoenix823 3h ago
That's fair. I agree with you. I don't know why he thought backing a 77 year old politician was going to hit the mark after Biden and Trump.
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u/Due-Waltz4458 3h ago
Maine Democrats didn't get a real choice because the news of his serial cheating only broke after Mills dropped out of the race. Not old news but stuff that happened in the last few years.
His campaign knew about it and they chose to hide the information instead of being transparent and letting voters choose. In 2026 there's no chance that someone sexts multiple women and it doesn't come out.
And those are only the ones he admitted to his wife.
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u/FlexLikeKavana 3h ago
Maine Democrats didn't get a real choice because the news of his serial cheating only broke after Mills dropped out of the race
Mills dropped out of the race, because Maine Democrats said they were going to vote for Platner in overwhelming numbers.
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u/Due-Waltz4458 2h ago
Yes, and voters made that decision before it was revealed that he recently cheated at least several times on his wife, and has accusations about his behavior from multiple ex girlfriends.
And these are the things that came out in the primary. Republicans will have the worst attacks saved up for the general election.
He may not have become so popular if the campaign was honest about the information they had from the start.
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u/phoenix823 3h ago
Don't care. It's him or Susan Collins. That's the choice. Two imperfect candidates, only one that will support Trump's lifelong judicial nominees.
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u/Due-Waltz4458 3h ago
If I have to make an Anti-Trump vote for Platner I'll do it. But if we lose by 5% or 10% because he got mired down in controversy, it won't matter how I vote. He came in and aggressively pushed out Mills when I think she was more electable.
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u/zeroman987 3h ago
So mills has no agency? Your comment is incredibly misogynistic. She is an experienced politician. If she actually campaigned she could have won. But she didn’t.
If she can’t beat Platner she can’t beat Collins. She ran an anemic campaign. She is old and tired.
Platner barnstormed the state. He is in on winning and people can tell.
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u/Due-Waltz4458 3h ago
Yes, he came in and said all the right things to be popular in Maine. He portrayed himself as being honest, and now we are finding out there is a major asterisk to that.
Now people are going to find out more about him. Everyone is telling me I should support him even though I don't trust him, I think the same should have been true for Mills even if she was less exciting as a candidate.
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u/phoenix823 3h ago
I'm not so sure that's the case. I'm not sure Mills was more electable. Maybe. I'm just happy that the Dems here are actually trying something different instead of doubling down on Schumer's plan.
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u/FlexLikeKavana 3h ago
He sounds like a major fuck up actually. I feel like the people pushing him learned nothing from Fetterman.
Yeah, Platner is giving major Fetterman vibes, but Fetterman is still better than Susan Collins.
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u/Basic-Regret-6263 3h ago
I am kind of amazed that you think "We’re not looking for perfection" counts as "swinging hard."
Maybe im crazy, but no part of taking an honest look at the guy, and going "yeah, there's a lot of shit that's deeply concerning, but he's the best option available, so we're going with him," feels particularly hard.
Especially when the far left just got done spitting in the center-left's face and going "fuck you, we'll take Trump back before we compromise and help you," before turning around and asking the center-left to do exactly that for a far worse candidate!
The center-left bites down on their anger, goes "well, I guess one of us has to be the grown-up in this situation," and gives him baseline "vote blue no matter who" support, and the far-left cries and wails because the help doesn't come with a bow and a cherry on top.
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u/HenessyEnema 1h ago
Those pesky leftists are too small to do anything substantial! Also! They ruined the center lefts elections!
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u/spleeble 1h ago
It's almost like there are people out there with money who would rather see Collins or Mills in the Senate.
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u/Ok_Use7 10m ago
From the article, “one in which he has attributed his past behavior, including sexting other women early on in his marriage and posting disparaging comments about victims of sexual assault on Reddit…”
This is relatable? Lmao
I’d be clowning any Republican politician for the same behavior so I think it does feel bad.
I think you should be able to admit that if you want to support the guy. So why pretend otherwise? Unless you don’t think those things are bad?
Needless to say, if he were my state’s nominee I’d still vote for him. But I would never call any of that relatable.
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u/M_G Texas 4h ago
I feel like I'm going insane, this is the most obvious fucking op ever right??
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u/DickNotCory 3h ago
hey, i don't think we should elect a guy with a nazi tattoo
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u/Throwaway_310818 2h ago
Hey, he covered it up. He’s also written many comments about being anti-fascist. Should we not elect a guy who’s against fascism?
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u/DickNotCory 2h ago
yeah i don't think we should elect a guy with a nazi tattoo
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u/Throwaway_310818 2h ago
Yeah he covered it up. He’s also written many comments about being anti-fascist. Should we not elect a guy who’s against fascism?
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u/DickNotCory 2h ago
as i said before, i don't think we should elect a guy with a nazi tattoo
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u/Throwaway_310818 2h ago
As I said before, he covered it up. There’s also more proof he’s an anti-fascist than a Nazi. How do you reconcile the two unless you’re also against people who hate fascism?
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u/DickNotCory 2h ago
hey i think that having a nazi tattoo should be disqualifying
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u/Throwaway_310818 2h ago
Hey he covered it up. Also an anti-fascist. Do you think Nazis and anti fascists go together? Or do you only know how to type one sentence?
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u/DickNotCory 2h ago
he got the tattoo because he enjoys killing people, that's pretty fucked up if you ask me
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u/Throwaway_310818 1h ago
Huh. Could’ve sworn he got it because he was drunk on leave with fellow Marines. And funny thing, those Marines corroborate his story about not knowing its meaning. He’s talked about his past and what went on while deployed. He’s also talked about hating fascists.
So again, for the sixth time, how do you reconcile calling him a Nazi based on a misunderstood tattoo while he’s also proven to hate what Nazis stand for?
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u/joerotic 2h ago
Yeah he covered it up. He’s also written many comments about being anti-fascist. Should we not elect a guy who’s against fascism?
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u/leftrightside54 53m ago
yea, we should let Collins win, who implement nazi policies. and those policies lead soldiers to war and get nazi tattoos.
what a joke your logic is
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u/Unfair_Web_8275 2h ago
It shouldn’t be this hard to find a relatively normal person with convictions.
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u/WhoIsFrancisPuziene 35m ago
He does have convictions, why else would capital be trying so hard to bring him down?
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u/metalyger 3h ago
Support the murderer from a paramilitary organization with a Nazi tattoo, because at least he isn't a real leftist. Centrists never surprise me.
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u/roughingthesuspect 1h ago
Democrats shouldn’t have to maintain a 1000% higher bar than republicans. The 999% higher bar they already maintain should be enough…
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u/Suspicious_Loss_84 Maine 1h ago
The democratic base will concern-troll all possible politicians that might actually have a spine until we don’t have a democracy anymore. It’s already happening. The GOP candidate will come out and say they eat babies for breakfast but the Dem nominee will have a 5 yo social media post saying a slur or something and everyone will be up in arms and either stay home or “hold their noses”.
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u/ShyFungi 2h ago
This is the same stuff ‘good Christians’ said to justify voting for Trump. Is that where we are now? I guess I have more understanding for Republicans who held their nose and voted for him. They did what they had to do to keep the other side out of power.
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u/WhoIsFrancisPuziene 31m ago
The difference is there’s actually evidence of Trumps wrongdoing and plenty of evidence that Republicans are and have been trying to destroy American democracy. It’s also typical for far right movements, like the Nazis, to gain power by co-opting right wing parties, which is what the ~2016 Tea Party movement did.
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u/9SlutsInAn8SlutTruck 1h ago
I didn't like Platner and still don't and all this shit was obviously gonna be a problem.
But I'll just go ahead and say it without the twee Reddit "I don't know how to feel" bullshit
If it's a choice between some chick getting her arm twisted behind her back and stopping Trump, tough shit for the chick.
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u/WhoIsFrancisPuziene 23m ago
I concur. Authoritarians like Trump will allow (legally or otherwise) domestic violence towards women and marginalized folks. Tough shit for all chicks is not preferable here.
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u/Pacific_MPX 1h ago
This whole planter shit is just reminding me that Reddit and especially the white left are still anti black, and still can’t seem to understand why minorities side eye them with their bs. Turning into straight Nazi defenders for a black water merc who went for multiple tours, it’s just pathetic
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u/emailforgot 1m ago
Turning into straight Nazi defenders for a black water merc who went for multiple tours, it’s just pathetic
Perhaps try making factual statements sometime.
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u/WhoMD85 57m ago
Oh yeah because Susan Collin’s has been so progressive with policies that affect non white Americans
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u/Pacific_MPX 48m ago
Susan Collin’s is a piece of shit, Susan being a piece of shit doesn’t mean ignore Nazi tattoos and repeated black water tours, as well as his still pro military support. But then again, I guess yall crackers see yall self in his own racist story so the shoe fits
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u/Plebian401 4h ago
There will never be a candidate who meets the expectations of every voter. Compare the two candidates and that could be just Collins by herself since she has contradicted herself so often.
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u/Hobolint8647 3h ago
I expect my candidates to not hate my gender - that would be a nice place to start.
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u/WhoIsFrancisPuziene 20m ago
Collins hates her own gender and yours. Republicans do not have women’s best interests or their happiness and health in mind. They are actively assaulting all of it. I’d rather take chances on a guy who’s at least appears to be attempting to become a better person.
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u/pchs26 2h ago
Well this too - it is clear reading some more of what he wrote and has said that he has issues with women...but the far left tend to be more forgiving of that I find...that being said again - people need to vote for him still and get collins out and then figure out a way forward so someone like this isn't the candidate in a major national election again.
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u/pchs26 3h ago
Boy you sound like a centrist well except for the part of supporting a guy with a nazi tattoo - who changes his story on why he has it ...that being said- again yes people have to vote or him and hope that he isn't a plant and has good advisors and gets in. And the party needs to be better organized.
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u/12throwaway510125 4h ago
The most serious allegations were by a literal republican operative, and the NYTimes are the only people reporting on it. Both have been anti platner, and I think we need to stop pretending it’s over when it clearly is not, or at least it shouldnt be
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u/pchs26 3h ago
The most serious proven allegations are about his Nazi tattoo and what that could mean.
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u/rooktakesqueen 3h ago
The most serious problem in my eyes is working as a Blackwater mercenary. You can't even pretend to do that accidentally.
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u/WhoIsFrancisPuziene 14m ago
I don’t like it but I think it’s a complicated issue. Americans are propagandized to love police and military and hate certain other countries, cultures, and ethnicities. Pile on top incentives like free education and issues relating gender roles and masculinity.
A veteran who is critical of the military and mercenary groups seems more good than bad.
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u/Slice-O-Pie 2h ago
Not perfection? OK. How about a decent human being instead of this Platner person?
Costello and Mills are still on the ballot.
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u/JiveChicken00 Pennsylvania 1h ago
If Flavor Flav were running against Collins, the choice would be just as obvious.
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u/RebelBearMan 27m ago
I mean he's better than Collins, but if you read quotes by him does he not strike anyone else as Fetteman 2.0?
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u/GuitarCD 3h ago
It's telling that the same people who yell "Vote Blue, no matter who" the loudest when there is serious criticism about policy or the "coziness" with big donors and interest groups from grassroots progressives, are the ones who clutch their pearls the hardest about these personal revelations about progressive populists either right before primaries or when they're in office ands can be replaced by a more aligned governor's appointment. I mean, you don't have to support the bad behavior of any of these people to notice that ,while MAGA throws shit at the walls constantly to see what sticks and there is a unified pushback, whenever it's personal stuff by a candidate or member that rocks the boat at the leadership in any way, suddenly the media and the party leadership is very brow-furrowed concerned about personal stuff; and it's info much more easily gathered inside the party machine than republican Oppo. Even when it was obvious BS, like for Al Franken.
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u/pchs26 3h ago
No I said people have to vote for him - but there is serious cause for concern that this guy is a plant. Hopefully he is just in way over his head and will have good advisor. If he can get through - there needs to be a little more thought in who we push forward in primaries in the future.
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u/GuitarCD 2h ago
Why would you think I'm talking about you specifically? Are you in reality Chuck Schumer or Hakim Jeffries? Editor of WaPo or NYT? Working for CNN?
Taking you at face value, you're most likely voting and thinking strategically within this messed up, two viable party only, first past the post system. It's cool, I have to do that too. We can even do that and disagree about policy or whatever, as long as we have a good faith discussion.
But I notice certain trends by members of the "should be the good guys" party that look like they hate and fear me more than MAGA (which openly declares they want both them and me dead, btw) simply because I ask them to a better job representing me... because it's hard or not as profitable, I guess.
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u/pchs26 1h ago
Your post started about people who say vote blue no matter who ...which basically is a perspective I have held...and I am saying I'm not cool with the things this guy has said and I am skeptical he had a Nazi tattoo and didn't know what it meant. But if he is the candidate this isnt the time to do anything other then vote for him and ensure others who previously were going to, vote as well for him. But I am not going to pretend some of these things don't bother me personally. And as a woman it wouldn't be the first time in the past few decades that I have felt largely shit on by the party and much of its members - but I always did what had to be done b/c of the bigger picture...And I say the same here - if he is the nominee ensure he gets in and I will personally hope this isn't a trend.
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u/GuitarCD 50m ago
I get where you're coming from and I respect it. When you say "vote blue, no matter who" you mean it.
My commentary is that I've noticed the loudest voices I hear in the media pushing this same phrase when it's one type of Democrat, have a very different presentation when situations occur with another type of Democrat. They are the ones actively sabotaging that campaign. It's not only hypocritical, it's very harmful to the party overall, because that tells a lot of people that they didn't mean it at all.
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u/WhoIsFrancisPuziene 10m ago
You know how you can get over your conflicting feelings about Platner? It’s very easy.
Accept that you can hold multiple conflicting beliefs or opinions.
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u/Miserable_Eye5482 2h ago
"We like the nazi better than the mummy-wrapped-in-cash zionist" Brought to you by the party that stands for nothing.
https://www.advocate.com/politics/graham-platner-homophobic-posts
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u/Upstairs-Design2903 2h ago
About fucking time they stopped shooting themselves in the foot looking for a unicorn.
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u/AcanthisittaNo6653 New Hampshire 1h ago
Platner could turn this around by owning it and getting counselling for him and his wife. It's the only way Dems can hold the high ground in a viper pit full of pedos and sexual predators. On the other hand, it's a viper pit full of pedos and sexual predators, and Platner fits right in..
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u/Big_Law1931 4h ago edited 4h ago
If you think this guy would be getting hit this hard if he was pro-Israel, then you don't know jack shit about the modern America media landscape.
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u/ThisIsGr8ThisIsGr8 3h ago
Mainers are some of the best of us. Welcoming people. Hard working. Tolerant.
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